Remembering Fernando Caruncho: The Soul of the Observer

INSPIRED BY | MASTERS & MUSES | WORLD OF CABANA

Cabana honours the life and legacy of Fernando Caruncho, a cherished friend and longstanding contributor. A singular figure in landscape design, Caruncho brought to his work a rare sensitivity to spirituality, geometry and nature. To mark his passing, we share a personal remembrance from Miguel Flores-Vianna, followed by The Soul of the Observer, Sophie Goodwin’s reflective conversation with the Spanish landscape designer, published in Cabana Issue 24.

BY MIGUEL FLORES VIANNA & SOPHIE GOODWIN | 22 AUGUST 2026

A Personal Remembrance by Miguel Flores-Vianna

I had long known of Fernando Caruncho, the Spanish landscape architect, and his work as one of the world’s pre-eminent garden designers. I admired his creations whenever I saw them in publications and secretly harboured the hope that, one day, I might meet him in person. In 2018, our mutual friend Isabel López-Quesada introduced us in New York and later arranged for me to visit him at his studio on the outskirts of Madrid.

The day of my visit dawned grey and overcast in the Spanish capital. When I arrived at the studio, I could not help but notice that the mountains surrounding Madrid were covered in fresh, deep layers of snow. After our initial greetings, I asked him the names of the mountains that, from his garden, seemed so close. “Son las montañas de Velázquez,” he replied, “Velázquez’s mountains”, referring to the peaks that often appear in the Spanish master’s canvases. That answer, that morning, was the best way to describe him. His life was a quest to refine and elevate everything he did.

To me, Fernando Caruncho was the epitome of a Señor, an aristocrat. I do not know whether he was, in fact, of noble lineage, but I do know that he was a Noble Man. Erudite and humble, sparing with his words yet grand in his vision, he was both a leader and a listener: a very private individual with the gift of elevating public discourse. Like Velázquez, he was a man of the Renaissance.

The moments I shared with him, and later with his wonderful wife, Maru, and their two sons, Fernando and Pedro, will always be special to me, a treasure. Fernando Caruncho had the gift of lifting all of us who were lucky enough to come within his radiance. Fernando Caruncho will be much missed.

Left to right: Fernando Caruncho, photographed by Raúl Tomás; Fernando Caruncho and his sons, Fernando and Pedro, courtesy of Fernando Caruncho.

The Soul of the Observer

Fernando Caruncho tells Sophie Goodwin, in his own words, about his principles and ideals and how Spirituality, Geometry, and Nature have guided his life and work

TIME/LEGACY

Time unfolds like a vast spiral, where everything repeats itself yet is never quite the same. This experience reveals itself not only in the rhythms of daily life—the sky, the water cycle, and so on—but also in the observation of a garden, a microcosm that reflects the greater macrocosm of nature. Our perception of space and time has been passed down from the great ancient civilizations and remains fully alive today. These cultures relied on intuition as a form of knowledge. What they once intuited, science now often confirms.

DESTINY/CREATION

A garden expresses itself on multiple levels—physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional—opening us to diverse states of consciousness. This is why there exists a profound connection between creation and human destiny. The garden embodies this connection in a powerful metaphor that integrates all these dimensions of awareness. This process, which aligns us with the creative force of the Cosmos, is reflected daily in the garden—where the poetic and spiritual essence of life is preserved and where the primordial energy of the world manifests itself once again.

INTUITION

Intuition, that ever-present state of consciousness, is a fusion of vision and voice, a force that beautifully connects the energy of a place with the soul of its observer. In that fleeting moment of intuition, the truth of the place reveals itself through light and sound. Intuition is always the essential tool of the creative process—the original idea that gives birth to the future garden.

GEOMETRIC EXPRESSION/GRID SYSTEMS

Geometry is humanity’s most ancient and fundamental language. Through it, we understand the world, measure the Earth, and merge intuition with spatial awareness, transforming it into a tool that enables us to express our relationship with nature and deepen our understanding of it. Over time, this innate geometric language became a system of knowledge, both material and spiritual. This is why, at the entrance to Plato’s Academy, the inscription read: “Let no one ignorant of geometry enter here.”

PROCESS

The creation of a garden unfolds across three interconnected dimensions: material, intellectual, and spiritual. These elements function as one, making the process profoundly mysterious. The first strokes are guided by intuition, allowing us to connect with the site and perceive the idea embedded in its light and air. For me, this connection is the true starting point—without it, the poetic essence of the project does not exist, as it is the force that sets everything in motion. Of course, the process eventually takes shape through models and plans, defining other essential stages necessary for the garden’s realization.

From my perspective, it is crucial to respect the existing environment and alter it only when absolutely necessary. It is a wondrous journey—beginning with intuition, evolving into sketches, models, and plans, and finally materializing in the physical world through earthworks, staircases, ponds—culminating in the moment of planting. This is when the garden comes to life, its true magic emerging, transforming it into a living work of art.

PERCEPTION AND EXPRESSION OF PLACE

It is an intimate process that begins with open observation. The mind captures the essence—the soul of the space—engraving in memory the fundamental elements that will breathe life into the future garden.

MEMORY AND NATURE

Mnemosyne, or memory—the mother of all muses—is the spirit of the world. She reconnects us to our most ancient origins, where the garden, a sacred space at the heart of most religions, becomes a place where humanity once again encounters the divine through remembrance. Tragically, this connection has faded since the rise of Cartesian thought, severing the intellectual bond with the garden. Yet today, the garden is re-emerging as an essential ritual—offering a path for humanity to reconcile with nature, restoring both spiritual and material connection to the environment, and transforming the way we inhabit the world.

THE ELEMENTS

Just as a musician relies on the staff to express musical emotions through notes placed between its lines, a gardener depends on geometry, the staff, the structure, to arrange and harmonize all parts of the garden as a unified whole—a continuous flow achieved by blending and seeking the perfect balance between the four Elements: earth, air, water, and fire. This pursuit of balance among them is what makes the art of gardening simultaneously so simple, when there is a quick connection with the spirit of the place, and so complex, when such a connection does not arise naturally or spontaneously. This is its magic and its alchemy, and in each case, it is undoubtedly unique.

LOVE AND FAMILY

If a garden can generate spontaneous empathy among people who do not even know each other, how much more so within a family, where, from the earliest age, children, siblings, and parents witness the daily splendor that unfolds before them, new each day. The garden is an act of pure, selfless love and the freedom of discovery, and as such, we must receive and preserve it—whether public or private. It becomes a deep part of our identity, showing us silently the code of love and respect we must learn to share and carry forward over time.

This quiet labor is fundamental to true education. Without intending to, or even realizing it, the Elements reveal the world and its beauty to us. The best and most expressive mentor is a garden; in its light, its quiet music, its murmuring waters, we discover the joy of living. For within it are the hidden foundations of what we once were and can always return to be—the place where the gods left us to share in their nature.

PAST/PRESENT

Is it not the past—the experience of what we have consciously and unconsciously received and lived—that guides us toward the future and allows us to perceive the present as real in that very moment? In each lived moment, the three tenses merge into a continuous flow, connecting us with a timeless space—between dream and reality, between the visible and the invisible. This incredible and mysterious experience is life itself, and in the garden, it becomes a poetic experience shared with the elements of Mother Nature, giving it a dimension that opens our sensitivity to new perceptions. It makes us understand, through emotion, that we are an inseparable part of the Cosmos. “Everything was in its place—the things of the earth and the things of the sky.”

MEMORY AND CULTURE

When we think about the meaning of the word culture today, we get the impression that it is something manufactured, a semi-product of human activity, as if it were not directly connected to the reality of people’s and nations’ lives. Culture has reached the point of wanting to replace the real forces of everyday life—where everything is truly created out of necessity, that is, in truth—rather than through useless artifice and exaggerated speculation in search of a supposed originality that neither connects with the tradition of the past nor with the flow of life.

Culture has become the religion of our time, complete with its prejudices and fanaticisms, instead of being a consequence of daily life, through which we discover new ways to solve our material, intellectual, and spiritual needs—combining the useful with the beautiful to renew hope in the future. This path toward hope for the future cannot ignore the past, one of the hallmarks of our time, because, as Petrarch said, “without looking to the past, we cannot find the light that will lead us to the future.”

Hence, the importance of memory, the mother of all the Muses, the guiding thread with which we weave and unweave the delicate fabric of life’s tapestry.